Galatians 1:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

NIV: For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

NASB: For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;

CSB: For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God's church and tried to destroy it.

NLT: You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion — how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

KJV: For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

NKJV: For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.

Paul has stated that anyone who attempts to preach a different gospel is, in fact, preaching something entirely false and is worthy of being cursed (Galatian 1:8–9). And yet, a group known as the Judaizers has been attempting to persuade Christians in Galatia that Paul was not trustworthy. Paul has stated unequivocally that he learned what he taught to them directly from Jesus Himself.

To make that case, Paul now begins to remind his readers of his own personal story. After all, he was once one of the most prominent persecutors of Christians. His goal was nothing less than to destroy the "church of God" by any means necessary, including violence. According to Acts 26:9, he "was convinced that [he] ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth." This included imprisoning believers, casting his vote to have them executed, and chasing them down even to cities outside of Israel.

Most famously, Paul's first appearance in the Bible is at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1–3).

Galatians 1:11–24 begins with Paul's statement that he did not receive the gospel which he taught to the Galatians from any man-made religion, nor training from other people. He received it from Christ Himself. God revealed His Son Jesus to Paul, by His grace, even after Paul spent years as a Pharisee trying to destroy the Christian church. After Christ commissioned Paul to preach the good news to the Gentiles, he went off by himself for a few years and came to know the gospel through Christ directly.

Paul begins his letter to the Galatian churches abruptly, compared to his other writings. He has heard they are deserting the gospel which he preached and they believed: the good news that Jesus died to fully pay for all our sins on the cross. The Judaizers taught that these Gentiles must also follow the law of Moses to be saved and openly questioned Paul's authority. Paul makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ, who appeared to him and revealed the truth to him apart from the other apostles.

Galatians 1 begins one of the most-loved books about God's grace in all of Scripture. This and the following chapter detail Paul's biography, as he makes the case that he has been made an apostle by Christ and therefore his message is trustworthy. Chapters 3 and 4 go into depth about exactly what the gospel of God's grace is and why it is true. In chapters 5 and 6, Paul teaches about how Christians should live in the world as people who have received the grace of God through faith in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.

Accessed 5/2/2024 5:04:09 PM